TORONTO -- For my birthday in March, my brother ordered a 2 year subscription of "Sky & Telescope" from Magazine City. It was paid in full. It's been 5 months and still no delivery.

He called them after several months to inquire about it, was put on hold for HALF AN HOUR, then he was hung up on. Several emails were sent to Magazine City with inquiries, each resulted in a form letter reply with absolutely no information about the subscription.

Not only was their price worst than the publisher's, they never delivered, and when asked for a refund they sent another copy of their form letter.

WARNING TO CONSUMERS: Do not expect this company to communicate with you, do not expect your subscription in the mail, do not expect a refund.
This company appears to be a computer program, not a company with real individuals who can offer real solutions. The money is gone and the product they offer is just a picture on your computer screen. MAGAZINE CITY IS A SCAM.
If you want a magazine subscription, shop elsewhere!

The company's customer service sounds horrible, but out of curiousity . . . why did your brother make the purchase if their pricing is not competitive with the publishers? Why did it take several months for him to call and inquire about delivery? If the purchase was made by credit card, file a claim with the bank that issued the card.

Posted by GetEven on 2009-01-29:

My brother made the purchase in a hurry without checking it out first. Magazine City advertises itself as a premier online magazine subscription service, so he took their self-promotional spew as gospel and went for it. He's learned his lesson now.
It took him several months to call and inquire about delivery because they tell you to wait up to 10 weeks for delivery. After that they issue a form letter saying that international orders (Canada, in this case) take several weeks longer. They keep stringing the customer along as long as possible in the hopes that the customer loses interest in fighting them for their order or money back.
I kept on them and in the end they issued a full refund something like 7 or 8 months after the subscription was issued. Not a single issue was ever received, and the refund was only issued after extensive emailing and a threat of court action against them.
I believe they collect the money from thousands of customers, earn interest on it and eventually issue a refund only if the customer threatens them with legal action.